Amazing animation. There's tons of things that animators try to hide that are shown in full--things like close-ups of hands, multiple strings being tied and moved, and wispy spiderwebs. All of the backgrounds are intricately detailed with textures you can almost feel. Unfortunately, the story is a little contrived. Events don't smoothly flow into one another and a lot of the motivations are not explained very well.
Despite the G rating, this is not for children. Several characters are killed on-screen and many characters are much too ominous.
Level "Entertaining" • 6 :heart: • You may or may not enjoy this.
Shout by drqshadowBlockedParent2020-02-06T19:35:09Z
Gorgeously animated, smartly written and surprisingly mature for a film that's geared to such a young audience. Don Bluth and company really peered over new horizons with their painstaking efforts on this picture, and ultimately gave their old bosses and coworkers at Disney the kind of direct competition they needed to wake up from their late '70s slump. Bluth's unmistakable style positively seeps out of every panel in NIMH, with an expressive, gestural quality that’s both creatively streamlined and rich with detail.
The story, so dark that Disney actually opted out of making the film themselves, remains a breath of fresh air even today, thirty years after its premiere. Its broad landscapes and diverse characters tackle some very challenging themes with succinct honesty, respecting their viewers without scaring them off. Too many kids' movies resign themselves to the opinion that children need their hands held on a stroll through happy town from start to finish, with a reassuring character always nearby whenever something remotely spooky happens. NIMH rejects that theory, cautiously, and ends up a better picture for all audiences as a result. It's a revelation - even better than I'd remembered.